


Tomorrow Never Knows

by Gingerbread11



Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Torchwood
Genre: F/M, Fancy Dress, Librarian - Freeform, M/M, Model, Unexpected Relationship, janto
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-04-03
Updated: 2012-04-20
Packaged: 2017-11-02 23:38:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/374645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gingerbread11/pseuds/Gingerbread11
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Torchwood AU: Toshiko introduces her stoic roommate Librarian Ianto to her flamboyant and outrageous friend model turned photographer Jack at a fancy dress party and Ianto begins to question just how 'straight' he really is...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. You Look Real Pretty in Your Fancy Dress

Ianto Jones flinched angrily as he heard the harsh sound of curtains being stripped open in his bedroom, and felt the burn of sunlight pouring in to every corner of the room, slipping beneath his eyelids and invading tired eyes. He cursed internally, not daring to speak out loud just yet, or even to move another muscle just on the off chance that his waker hadn't noticed his reaction yet and still thought him to be sound asleep.

"Ianto I know you're awake, you're not fooling anyone." Toshiko said with a motherly, condescending tone.

Ianto prised his eyes open, regretting it immediately as he greeted the harsh light, and so screwed them back up again and began rubbing at them manically with his palms, blinking rapidly, trying to clear his vision. Unwillingly he pushed his pillows up behind him and sat up straight, giving the best attempt at a death stare to Tosh that he could manage this soon after being woken up.

"What time is it?" He asked, groggy and irritated.

"11.30" She replied.

"Uuurgh" Ianto groaned and sunk back underneath the duvet cover, pulling pillows down over his head, trying to block out the world once more. He'd hoped that if Tosh had considered it late enough to come in here and wake him up so violently then it had to be at least in the early hours of the afternoon.

The young Welshman was not one for lazy mornings or lie-ins, he usually woke up at the crack of dawn to greet the sun. But not today, he wanted today to be as short as possible, there for it was his plan to sleep in late and go to bed early, pretending almost as if today had been non-existent. Because it was one year to the day that Lisa, his beloved best friend and childhood sweetheart, had rejected his proposal of marriage. And, funnily enough, he didn't really feel like making much of a go of 'today'. Clearly Tosh, his University room-mate who he had now once again found himself living with this past year, had other ideas.

Toshiko ripped back the covers that her friend was clinging tightly to, and despite her small size, had the strength to prise them from him, leaving Ianto sprawled out on the bed in underwear and a Beatles t-shirt, eyes determinately shut.

"Fine, fine" She said. "If you won't wake up for me… perhaps you'll wake up for Myfanwy" She finished shrugging, and lifting the fluffy black cat from her bed and placing her on Ianto's face.

"Wha-oh-go-urr Tosh!" Ianto spluttered, lifting a rather agitated Myfanwy off his face and onto his chest instead.

"I'm sorry Ianto, but there's no use in wasting the day in bed."

He rolled his eyes and went to speak, but Toshiko interrupted.

"I know that today's going to be difficult for you –"

It was his turn to cut her off as he sighed "Tosh I know you're only trying to help but, can we not?" He asked, absent mindedly stroking Myfanwy.

"Look, Ianto, you need to know that nothing will be helped by failing to face up to what's happened and moved on. You've been doing so well these past 8 months or so, even had a few dates with a couple of nice pretty girls, you wouldn't want a stupid date on a calendar to ruin any of that would you? I mean. I know it was a shock, we were all shocked, you two had been together since before I even met you and I genuinely though you were perfect for each other. But, these things happen. You are a wonderful, intelligent funny, gorgeous man and there are plenty of people out there looking for exactly that; all of the a hell of a lot nicer than that bitch"

Ianto's throat caught at that word, it wasn't often that Tosh swore, but in a strange sort of way he appreciated the use of it then.

"Thanks" He replied softly "May be wasting the day away isn't the best thing to do, and you're right I need to put it behind me for good." He managed a small smile.

Toshiko sighed inwardly, she'd been hoping to be able to get the young man to open up to her a little more and for him to talk about everything, how he was feeling. But that was typical Ianto, never giving too much away, always a little distant even from his closest friends, it was just his way. He kept himself to himself, never over displayed his emotions, held a perfect and unbreakable stoic mask in place all day every day, and no one knew who he truly was; and that was exactly the way he liked it.

Toshiko pushed the thought back and smiled instead, at least content that he wasn't suicidal or revenge ridden on this particular anniversary. "Good, now can I get you a cup of coffee?" She asked kindly.

The Welshman sat up now moving the fairly irritated Myfanwy, she'd become rather cosy curled up on his chest, but she settled down as soon as she realised that the stroking would continue.

"What do you want" He asked once he was settled, one eyebrow raised and the suggestion of a smirk puckering at the corners of his mouth.

"I don't know what you mean" She said, a little flustered and flushing a little pink.

"Oh come on Tosh, you never offer to make coffee unless you want something" He said jovially.

"Well…"

"Ah" Ianto said, letting out a small sigh of contentment that he was correct.

"You see there's this party that my friend Jack is having this evening… and I was just going to go alone, I mean I would have asked you earlier of course but I though you wouldn't be up to it because of what today is… and well I'm only asking now because well…." She trailed off.

"Tosh, you're rambling. There's a party this evening and you'd like me to go with you?" He suggested.

She nodded. "Yes, yes. But honestly only if you feel like you can handle it, as I say I wasn't planning to ask you, if you'd rather just sit at home and watch bad movies and eat pizza and ice cream then I could just stay at home…"

"Don't be silly" He said smiling. "It might do me good to get out of the house, keep my mind off things you know." Ianto wasn't so sure it would be possible to keep his mind of things but he was never going to express how he felt and he supposed that pretending like he was keeping his mind off things in the company of a group of strangers was better than wallowing in self-hatred and pity with a cat. "Why exactly are you so averse to the idea of attending this party unaccompanied?" Raising one eyebrow again.

"Well it's just; oh gosh it's just me being sill really…"

"Is Owen going?" He guessed.

"Maybe…" She answered, cheeks growing a little flushed for the second time this morning.

"Tosh, not being funny or anything but if you're trying to make Owen jealous or something then maybe I'm the wrong person to take…" He winked.

"Silly boy!” She lunged forward to playfully whack his forearm “I've already complimented you enough this morning, but I think you'd do the trick nicely if that's what I was intending on doing…"

"Which of course it isn't…"

"Well, I just thought, maybe if he sees me with another man then he might… Oh I don't know, I guess I thought he might notice me more or something…"

"I just think he's crazy for not noticing you in the first place, but if you think it will help then I will gladly assist" He replied, putting on his most convincing smile.

"Thank you!" She half squealed, giving him a rather Myfanwy-crushing hug as she exited his room.

"Oh and that would be a no by the way." He called out.

"Huh?"

"A no. For the coffee, you might be a genius Miss Sato but you make a terrible brew!"

Five hours later and Ianto Jones was stood back in his room now, clad only in his underwear, running his hands through his hair with desperation, wardrobe door flung wide open and almost the entire contents spilling out onto the floor. Toshiko Sato, what am I going to do with you… he thought to himself. She had neglected to tell him until just a few minutes ago that this party tonight was a costume party, and now he only had a few hours left to pool together an acceptable outfit from his supply of clothing as there was no way that he'd be able to hire anything this last minute. He'd tried on checked shirts and denim jackets for a cowboy outfit, but was missing a hat. He'd sneakily borrowed some of Tosh's eye liner and put on an old leather jacket, but he knew that with his dimples he would never make a very convincing drummer. He'd even considered going dressed in a pair of footie pyjamas which Tosh had bought for him as a bit of a joke last year… but he wasn't that desperate he decided.

He heard a knock at the door.

"Come in" He said with a hint of frustration in his voice.

"How are you – " She stopped, shocked a little by his lack of clothing, and averted her eyes. "Oh sorry…"

"Don't be silly, we've been to the beach together before, just get in here and help me chose something please!" He said desperately – why do I care so much… he mused, I don't even really want to go, I'm only going for Tosh's sake…

"Alright" She said, sounding a little uncertain. "I am sorry; I didn't not tell you on purpose I just genuinely had forgotten that it was fancy dress until Gwen dropped round the costume I'm borrowing from her after lunch."

"That's alright" Ianto sighed, looking with dismay once again at the innards of his wardrobe, and wondering if maybe he couldn't just somehow get out of it all, and stay at home wallowing in his memories of Lisa. Tosh had kept him busy and occupied all day and so he hadn't had the opportunity to think much about any of it, or to curl up and cry out all of the pent up angst that he was feeling, for fear of his mask from dropping. Besides, he knew deep down that Tosh was right about moving on, once today was over, he was determined to not think of Lisa ever again. After what he hoped was not too long a pause to arouse concern or suspicion in Toshiko, the young man continued "I just haven't the faintest clue what to wear..."

"You could always wear those" Tosh pointed to him, gesturing at his white boxer shorts.

Ianto answered her with a sarcastic eye roll.

"I'm being serious! Well, sort of, I mean if we found you a pair of glasses then we could easily make a Brad Majors out of you" She grinned.

"Oh haha, very funny. I don't suppose the host, this Jack of yours, would appreciate that very much, and besides I don't have a Janet Weiss to accompany me so I might look a little odd." He said in his infamous ironic tone.

"Oh I don't know about that" Tosh replied ominously.

"What you’d do it? But…  I thought you were going as Catwoman? Even if I did have a Janet, I still wouldn't want to be walking around in my underwear all evening!"

"No, I meant that I wasn't so sure that Jack _wouldn't_ appreciate you wandering around clad only in boxers!" She replied giggling.

Ianto's eyebrows raised in shock then dropped almost immediately afterwards, he coughed his way back to composure. "Excuse me?" He asked, cheeks turning pink just a little.

"Yeah… I should probably warn you about him… He's a bit… well flirtatious doesn't even begin to cover it… But don't worry he's like it with everyone, and you kind of get used to it" She laughed again.

"Riiiight" He said dragging out the reply. And then he noticed the black dinner suit and bow tie as some of the remaining items left hanging up in the back of his wardrobe and simultaneously smiled and sighed inwardly with relief as he suddenly had a very good idea for a costume indeed and, more importantly, he would be clothed when he had to face this ‘Jack Harkness’.

Later that day, Toshiko 'Catwoman' Sato stood chatting and laughing with the host of the party and her good friend Jack Harkness, glancing guiltily over to the out of place looking Ianto Jones who was currently playing the part of the wall flower, staring mysteriously out at no one in particular. He'd told her to go off and talk to people, that he's be fine, but she still felt bad leaving him alone.

"And yeah, so umm the other week after the annual office Christmas party that was a total dive, where my friend Alex was like the only drunk person there and made a complete ass of himself, anyway, Alex came up to me the next day and was like 'Jack what the hell did I get up to last night?' and so I gave him all the gory details, not sparing the part where he called our boss Yvonne a control freak bitch who'll shag anything" Jack paused to laugh. "And he was moaning and asking how she took it and I was all like 'you were totally fired man' then he said 'well fuck her' and then I replied, don't worry I did and you're back Monday!"

"No way! You're making this up right?" Tosh asked

"No way, all true! It's brilliant isn't it?" He grinned at Toshiko's bashful giggle.

"Jack, you are absolutely outrageous!"

"I know, but it's why you all love me" He winked.

The American looked over now to where Tosh's eyes had been darting back and forth to for the past few minutes or so now, towards the cryptic Ianto Jones who stood unspeaking, unmoving, unseeing (?) against the back wall of his apartment.

"So, who's your friend?" Jack asked, intrigued by the figure in front of him.

"That's Ianto" She replied, smiling lightly as she said his name.

"How long have you been seeing him then? I thought you liked Owen? I mean it's why I invited him here tonight… but I must admit this Ianto certainly seems… nicer" He said, wiggling his eyebrows towards the end.

"Oh no" Tosh said flustered, "We're just good friends, it's nothing like that"

"I see" Jack said, taking in the young man who stood a good few feet away from him. The dark neatly kept hair, the clear bluer than blue eyes, the perfect porcelain face which beheld an impossible to read expression. He was wearing a perfectly tailored dinner suit, clutching an old fashioned and just casually keeping a distance between himself and the rest of the world. He was the definition of enigmatic. And for some reason Jack found him ridiculously attractive.

"Oh no Jack, just leave him be please."

"What?" He asked, feigning innocence.

"I know that look! And trust me, Ianto's not interested."

"Are you sure?" Jack asked, playfully but with a hint of genuine hope.

"Well, I presume not… I mean I don't know… no one really knows much about Ianto" She sighed. "But in all the time I have known him he's only ever dated women. Besides, I don't think today would be the best for anyone to try anything, male or female…"

"And what do you mean by that…?" He asked, intrigued.

"Oh gosh, I probably shouldn't say anything" Tosh mumbled.

"He so young, yet he looks as though he's got the weight of the world rested upon those shoulders, and half a life time of pent up emotion behind that mask of his" Jack mused.

"You could say that" Tosh sighed once more, turning to face Jack, only to see that he had gone wandering of to greet her friend. Oh god, she groaned inwardly.

"Jack Harkness" the man said as he extended a hand to Ianto, who for a second, was so swept up in his own thoughts, had forgotten that he was at a party at all. He recovered in an instant and shook the American's hand. "But you Bond, James Bond, can call me Captain" The man winked. Upon noticing this surprise gesture, Ianto took a moment to take in the man stood before him that he could quite safely assume to be Tosh's Jack. The bold American was charismatic, with an all American look to match his voice, he was a fair bit older than Ianto himself, perhaps in his late mid to late thirties, but he was still incredibly good looking… especially in that WWII air force Captain's uniform… Ianto surprised himself with that particular thought, but settled himself in just enough time to introduce himself.

"Jones, Ianto Jones" He replied with a smile. Oh god, am I flirting with him? He thought.

The other man seemed to find it amusing "Well Jones, Ianto Jones, can I get you another" He said, gesturing towards his empty glass.

' _You'll be fine; just don't let him get you drunk…'_ He remembered Tosh saying earlier during her ‘survival guide’ briefing for one of Jack’s illustrious parties.

"Yes, thank you" He replied, what am I doing? The young man shook himself internally, he was supposed to be wallowing in his sad memories of Lisa and the love he'd lost and probably wouldn't find again, not flirting with a man of all things! But he is rather handsome… his subconscious mused idly. The thought was snapped away as soon as Jack returned drinks in hands.

"Here you go" He said, handing the glass over to Ianto, fingers brushing past each other just lightly, sending a surprising spark of electricity down Ianto's arm. "So what do you do for a living? Film star… model… 'Hot guy' at a clothing shop…? He grinned.

Ianto blushed slightly, but smiled back despite himself. "No, no nothing that _demanding_ , I'm a librarian for Cardiff Central Library. And how about you, Captain?" He asked back, why was he going along with this? Ianto didn't flirt, he never had, not even with Lisa, he just never felt… confident… enough to pull it off, what on earth was he doing now?

The American's eyebrow rose, indicating both his surprise and delight at Ianto's question, "I'm a photographer now, but I used to model" He grinned, striking a pose.

I bet you did… Ianto mused. "So how do you know Tosh" Ianto asked swiftly, trying a safer topic, one that Jack surely couldn't flirt his way through.

"Well, it's a funny story really… but basically it involves a stolen sword, a bottle of tequila and me running naked through the streets of Splott" He grinned, did that man ever stop grinning Ianto wondered.

"I believe estate agents pronounce it Sploe you know" He said, trying to make the older man laugh.

It worked, he choked a little on his drink in response, "Oh really?"

"Indeed" Ianto replied, in an ominous tone. Jack noted how he was growing particularly fond of that accent… those Welsh vowels.

"Do I want to ask for the exact details of that story?" Ianto asked, despite knowing that he probably would regret it.

"Hmm I wouldn't want you to find out all about my terrible reputation when we've only just met… besides, we haven't had nearly enough to drink yet for me to be prepared to tell that story." He winked again. "And on that matter, another refill?" He asked a surprised Ianto, who was confused at exactly how his glass had emptied so quickly again. _Just don't let him get you drunk_ Tosh's words echoed again. But it's fine he told himself, I'm not drunk…. yet.

"Why do you do it?" Jack asked, handing Ianto his fourth (?) drink, fingers lingering together again, with that same spark of electricity between them.

"Do what?" He asked, a little confused.

"Hide yourself away from the rest of the world, keep your emotions hidden, never let anyone know who you truly are?"

Ianto was a little taken aback by this question, stunned by how much the other man seemed to have picked up about him, that he seemed to have looked right into him in a way that he tried so desperately to prevent people from doing usually. "What do you, I mean how…?"

"I may have been speaking with Tosh" Jack admitted with a wry smile, "But I could have noticed it for myself if I had wanted to" He finished in a matter of fact manner, beaming away.

"Oh really?" Ianto replied somewhat seductively, even if he didn't mean it that way, with one eye brow irked upwards.

Jack paused for a minute or more, thinking intently before all of a sudden his eyes took on a wicked gleam before asking: "Have you ever kissed a man, Jones Ianto Jones?"

Ianto spluttered and turned really rather pink just then, "Uh- umm – uh no".

Jack's expression took on an even more devilish quality, and Ianto suddenly noticed that they were moving very close together now. "Do you want to?" Jack asked, his voice filled with hope and lust and excitement.

"That would depend on the man" Ianto replied, almost breathless, knowing that he should have just said no, that he _meant_ no.

Before he had another second to reconsider exactly what that statement had meant, Ianto found his lips gently crushed by those of the man stood before him, and he was kissing them back. He'd reacted almost instantly, instinctively one could say, allowing the other man's wandering tongue access to his curious mouth. They both lost themselves in that moment, losing track of time, of their surroundings, of themselves… until Ianto suddenly remembered that they were in a very public place. He pulled away, and was surprised to find that no one was even looking at them, caring about what had just gone on, it must just be a regular occurrence at Jack's parties he assumed.

Jack pulled back a little further and began chuckling slightly. "Did I tell you that you look hot in that suit" He said, stroking the front part of his jacket, Ianto found himself wondering just exactly where the hands would stop and surprised himself by being disappointed when they ended just above his belly button.

"You didn't" He smiled "Did I tell you that I love that coat?"

"You didn't, but I'm glad you do, I wear it almost every day"

"But I thought this was your costume?" Ianto frowned a little with confusion.

"It is, but it's also a regular in my wardrobe, which means I get to be Captain Jack 24/7" He winked and Ianto rolled his eyes. But found that he was really rather keen on the idea of a 24/7 Captain Harkness… if he was always like this… and such a good kisser…

Oh god! He thought. What had he just gotten himself into?


	2. I kissed a Guy, and I liked it.

It was Sunday morning, the day after Jack's party, and it was early, barely just six o'clock, darkness still blanketing the outside winter scene, but Ianto Jones was awake. Despite the volume of alcohol he had consumed the evening before, the young man felt alive and refreshed without the faintest hint of a hangover, and was already partaking in his Sunday rituals. Whilst most of the nation was still sound asleep, he'd already eaten breakfast, showered, shaved, dressed and was now sat down in the sitting room attempting to complete a crossword puzzle from the Saturday paper but his mind wasn't entirely focused on it.

It had been fairly easy for his natural alarm clock to settle back into its old routine after his lapse the day before, partially because of the young Welshman's eagerness to be alert and ready and prepared for the day ahead, but mostly on this particular occasion because he had something troubling him from the evenings events, something that had prevented him from a full night's rest… well it was either that or the alcohol he mused.

But of course the predicament was that, due to said consumption of endless cocktails and eventually shots… and goodness knows what had been in that last mixture… his memories of the night before weren't exactly the best. It was most unlike Ianto to get into a situation such as last night, after which all traces of your evening were gone, but with it being a year on from Lisa's rejection of his proposal he had needed this sense of escapism. There were no actual events from the party that he could pin point, other than his arrival (in which he had been in a sober state) and the point at which Owen had accidentally spilt beer on him (which was mostly prompted by the slightly stale smell of Brains on his jacket). He remembered enjoying himself rather a lot more than he was expecting to, but he also remembered feeling highly out of his comfort zone, he remembered talking with Tosh's friend Jack…but he could barely remember seeing Tosh at all.

He sighed slightly to himself, and resolved to wait until Toshiko was awake and quiz her then about what exactly had gone on at this part, until then he decided to simply try and finish this puzzle and perhaps read a few chapters of 'The God of Small Things'. Quarter to seven, the face on his watch read. He sighed once more; it was going to be a good few hours until Miss Sato was awake.

It was mid-morning now, well almost the afternoon really, it was getting on for twelve o'clock. The sun that had been trying for the last few hours to break through the thick layer of dull clouds had now succeeded, casting a bright, deceptively warm glow across the winter sky. Beams of light burst through the blinds in her bedroom, and it was this that finally aroused Toshiko from her deep slumber. She sat up quickly, stretching as she went and rapidly regretted the movement; unlike her roommate Toshiko was most certainly paying the price for having an enjoyable evening the night before. With an almighty groan out loud, she slumped back down into the mattress, cuddling the duvet to her stomach to fight away the nausea and drawing her pillow up over her head to block out the ringing in her ears. Today was not going to be fun.

Ianto put down the book that he had become absorbed in on the coffee table as he heard what sounded like a faint groan echoing from the direction of Tosh's room. I guess she's up then, he chuckled to himself and got up to get her a glass of water, two ibuprofen tablets and a cup of his specialty blend coffee – the ultimate hang-over cure.

Ten minutes later, Toshiko heard a knocking at her door.

"Go away… I'm asleep".

He chuckled to himself from the outside of the door, and decided to head on in anyway.

"Ianto Jones, I told you I'm sleeping!" He heard her voice mumble from under the depths of her duvet.

"Oh really" He said, setting the tray bearing her anti-hangover kit to one side and tickling the dainty pair of feet exposed at the end of the bed; Toshiko squirmed in response.

"Fine, fine; I'm awake, you can stop that now!" She grumbled.

"Well, now that you're 'awake' perhaps you could remove the pillow from your head so I can talk to you properly?" Toshiko replied something inaudible from under her covers. "I come bearing gifts…" Ianto persuaded.

Rather hesitantly, Tosh removed the pillow from her head placing it behind her, and slowly sat up, clutching her head as she did so. She gladly accepted the tray of goodness which Ianto was now passing towards her, and quickly took the two painkillers with the cool and refreshing water, after which she gulped down an eager mouthful of Ianto's special blend coffee.

"Oh you absolute angel!" She exclaimed with a happy sigh as the hot liquid ran down her throat. "You have no idea how much I needed this, thank you!"

"You're welcome" Ianto smiled. "I take it that someone isn't feeling too dapper after last night's events…?"

Tosh rolled her eyes in response, "Oh that is the understatement of the Century. My head feels like it's filled with cotton wool, I can't shake the ringing from my ears and my stomach has never felt quite this unsettled in my whole life. It's worth it though."

"Ah you had a good time then?" Ianto asked, hoping that he would shortly be able to subtly bring up exactly what might have happened at the party.

"Yeah I had a great night! Jack's parties are always hilarious and completely outrageous fun, but this one was especially brilliant because…" She trailed off, flushing a little.

"Because?" The Welshman asked, raising an eyebrow to urge her to continue.

"Well… Owen and I sort of, well umm yeah" She stumbled through, with the largest grin on her face that she had worn in a long while.

"About bloody time!" Ianto replied with an expert eye roll and laugh.

"Oh be quiet" She replied, the smile yet to fade, lurching her arm out to mock slap her sarcastic friend. "Oh ah… movement, not good" She finished, clutching her stomach and slowly settling back against the headboard.

"And that's why you shouldn't hit people…" Ianto grinned.

"Don't make me do it again!"

"Now, come on I know that's not much of a threat as you'll only come off worst from it anyway."

"I hate it that you're always right" She fought back a grin. "Are you honestly not feeling anything after last night, you'd had an awful lot!"

Ianto shrugged, "No, I'm absolutely fine… physically. Slight problem though, I can't really remember anything" He admitted.

The young woman started laughing in response, "Oh you really were quite the hilarious drunk, kept doing impressions of Rob Brydon and trying to get everyone to play twister and then… but you really don't remember anything, I mean, nothing at all?" She asked.

"Oh gosh, twister? I barely even remember seeing you there Tosh, let alone anything that happened, why did I do anything embarrassing? Even more embarrassing than twister?"

Toshiko giggled, "well that depends…"

"Depends? Depends on what?"

"Well, whether you think it's embarrassing or not… whether you think it's weird"

"Oh lord, what, just tell me, what did I do?"

Ianto, who was so used to being the composed one, the one with the upper hand, the one with greater integrity in situations such as these was beginning to grow just a little uncomfortable, and just a little impatient. He didn't make a habit of getting drunk a) because he felt it wasn't necessary to have an enjoyable time, and b) because alcohol always leads to trouble or embarrassment, and he was starting to think that this predicament was providing a firm set of evidence as to why he should always uphold these rules.

"Well, I mean, just so you know I don't think it's weird, as long as you're fine with it I really couldn't care less, I mean to be honest you go to one of Jack's parties expecting this sort of thing… I just didn't expect it to be you to… but anyway it really isn't a big deal…"

"Would you just tell me already, please!" The young Welshman cut her off, pleading.

"Ok, well… you kissed Jack." She said, quite bluntly and straight to the point.

"I what?"

"You kissed Jack, you made out, tongue wrestled, you snogged! Well, I suppose technically it was Jack that kissed you…"

"Hang on a second, you're telling me that Jack – and I'm assuming you mean your Jack, though I'd love for you to tell me that it was another Jack, short for Jacqueline maybe – kissed at the party?"

"Yes, and no, not Jacqueline. Jack, American Jack, Captain Jack."

"Really?"

"Yes, and you seemed to be rather enjoying yourself…"

"Hang on, you're telling me I kissed another guy, and I liked it?" He questioned with disbelief.

And then it hit him, memories started flashing back, fragments of last night pouting back into his conscious mind. An introduction, him flirting with this other man (Ianto added this as another reason not to over consume alcohol again; he didn't do flirting), being poured endless and endless drinks, being asked that fatal question… _'have you ever kissed a man Jones, Ianto Jones?... do you want to?'_ he heard himself reply… _'No… That would depend on the man…'._ He remembered wanting Jack to kiss him then, remembered the older man's charm having won him over in an instant, that glorious coat, the strangely enticing aroma surrounding him… that gorgeous face. He wanted it. And then it happened, and he really had enjoyed it, most unexpectedly and most uncharacteristically he had enjoyed that spontaneous kiss with a member of the same sex, and he had no idea whatsoever to make of it all.

He gasped a little and pulled his hand up to his mouth, "Oh god I remember, he was… we were… and it was… oh dear I…" He mumbled, flushing out of both embarrassment and uncertainty.

"Hey, you know its ok, like I said it only matters if you want it to matter. If you don't think it's weird, then it's fine."

"But I do think it's weird! It does bother me!" He protested, brow knitting together into a frown.

"Oh, well I mean, really Ianto it's no big deal, it was just a kiss, I mean no one else there even batted an eye lid…" Tosh said, trying to be reassuring, but was ultimately a little surprised at his reaction. She was the first to admit that Ianto Jones was a very private man, even those closest to him never could quite tell what he was thinking or how he was feeling, but she had always assumed that he was a little more comfortable with himself than to let something like this bother him.

"No no, it's not the fact that I kissed a man at a party that's weird… I mean yes, it's a little surprising to say the least and quite possibly the last thing I expected you to tell me I'd done, but it would have been fine if I could say that that's all it was, just a drunken kiss… that it meant nothing and could be easily swept under the carpet, but the truth is…"

"The truth is?"

"The truth is… I liked it" He whispered. "I liked Jack, I'm not even sure I can blame that on the alcohol, and though everything is still a bit hazy I can definitely remember feeling… oh what on earth does that mean then!" He sighed, flushing a little again.

"Well, it doesn't have to mean anything you don't want it to mean. Just because you think you might have like one man doesn't necessarily make you gay, you don't have to define it as anything. You don't have to label your feelings; just speaking from Jack's point of view for a minute, I know that he hates labels and categories. He sort of doesn't see gender, just people and to be honest so many people could live much happier lives if they followed his example. There's no need to worry about what happened, just accept that you had a great evening with someone you liked, and if that's where this ends then just cherish the somewhat fuzzy memory, but if…"

"But if?"

"But if you like, I could always give you his phone number" She said wiggling her sleepy eyebrows at a Ianto level of perfection.

The young Welshman simply rolled his eyes in response.

Three or so hours later and Tosh was feeling a lot better, in fact she was out of her bedroom and now sat in the sitting room finishing of her late lunch and catching up on the IT Crowd, whilst Ianto was now taking his own turn at camping out in the bedroom. For the last twenty minutes or so, he had been sat on the corner of his bed, rolling his mobile around in his hand, crumpling and uncrumpling the sheet of paper with Tosh's neat lettering containing the vital data required for the text that Ianto was taking so long to deliberate sending. He looked down to his mobile and opened up a new text message only to close the window again with a sigh.

He had absolutely no idea what he was doing, the young man was entirely out of his depths and that scared the living day lights out of him. He hardly knew this Jack, and what he did know of him was learnt in a somewhat drunken state, the only things he really knew for certain about him was his job, the fact that he was friends with Tosh and the fact that he was bloody beautiful. No matter what Tosh said to him, whilst it had been a nice ideal, putting it into practice was going to be very tricky indeed. Especially considering that he had no idea what he was hoping to gain from sending this text, or if he wanted to gain anything at all, or what he would do once he had gained it… or of course how the recipient reacted, after all Tosh had said that this was a semi-regular occurrence, maybe he had already been forgotten the Welshman mused.

Oh for goodness sake! He shook himself internally. I am not a 13 year old school girl, I can handle this, after all it's only polite to follow up from something like this even if nothing else should happen, isn't it? He thought.

 _Hey Jack, it's Ianto._ He typed and sent. A kiss was deleted and re-added to the end of the text about 12 times before he finally decided on the 'less' (or in this case nothing) approach.

 _Ianto who? x_ He received back, simultaneously disconcerted by the lack of recognition and secretly pleased by the kiss.

 _How many Ianto's do you know? x_ He texted back, hoping that Jack was just fooling around.

_Just one, but that one hasn't got my number… though I wish he did…. x_

_Tosh gave it to me, hope that's ok? x_

_Of course it's ok, did you not read the last text Jones, Ianto Jones? x_

Ianto smiled, finally reassured that Jack both knew who he was talking to and was pleased to be doing so.

_I did, but it never hurts to check Captain x_

_Indeed it does not, so what can I do for you? ;) x_

_Just to… say hello x_

_Hello? x_

_Yes, so ummm…. x_

_So? x_

_Right… well… how are you? x_

_Great, you? x_

_Yeah, ok. So…x_

_So? :L x_ Clearly subtlety was getting him nowhere, either that or Jack was deliberately playing games with him and Ianto decided that even based upon the little he knew of that man that it was most likely the latter.

_You aren't going to make this any easier for me, are you? x_

_No! x_

_I enjoyed you're party last night x_ Ianto deliberated in sending this reply for about ten minutes, still highly uncertain as to what he hoped to gain by the end of this conversation and uncertain as to how he felt about pretty much anything right now. He hoped Jack would understand that by party he meant… well, he was sure he'd understand.

_I enjoyed it too x_

_I'd never done it before x_

_*Been to a costume party I mean… x_ He quickly added on to the end.

_I know, you told me. I'm glad that mine was your first x_

Me too… Ianto mused, and quickly snapped himself out of it – were they talking about the costume party or about the kiss? He barely even knew this man and yet he felt as if he had known him as long as Toshiko, yes he was attractive and charming and knew how to work his way under your skin, but Ianto really didn't know anything about him which was a fact he was starting to think he'd like to change even if it ended up being on just a friendship level.

_You doing much this afternoon? x_

_Nah not really, fancy a coffee in town, about four? x_

_Yeah why not, providing I get to pick the café, I'm very particular about my coffee…. x_

_I bet you are! Ok just tell me where and I'll meet you x_

Ianto read that last text and found his mouth to be curling up at the corners, smiling to himself in his bedroom. There was no denying the fact that he was yet to get over the whole unusualness and newness of this situation, or that he had no idea what this meeting (date?) would entail or what he wanted from it; but it would be an outright lie to say that he wasn't really rather excited.

 


	3. Bromance

Ianto Jones glanced at his wristwatch again, for perhaps the eight time in the last minute or so, and sighed to himself: 4.21 pm the clock face read, Jack was supposed to have been meeting him on the hour. He really is late Ianto mused, unless… unless he's not coming… he muttered to himself under his breath. Tosh had previously warned him of the man's tendency to arrive more than fashionably late, but still the younger man was worried by the fact he had failed to show as yet; he'd been nervous enough agreeing to this meeting (it wasn't a date surely…) in the first place and now he was becoming increasingly anxious that the American had changed his mind. After all, this man was attractive and charismatic and completely exuded confidence from every angle, he was the kind of man who could have anyone, of any gender, that he chose. There's no doubt that his past list of relationships, lovers and conquests, and friends even, must be mightily extensive; he was an ex-model, he was charming, and the Welshman had learned from his best friend that he was no stranger to the art of flirtation. Therefore, why on Earth would he want to meet up with me: a fairly ordinary, quiet, average looking Welshman who may or may not be… interested. Ianto looked at his watch again, 4.23 pm, why am I still here? He mused as he drained the dregs of an Americano he had purchased during his wait.

Suddenly the young Welshman was beginning to feel a little foolish for getting putting in so much effort preparing for this outing. As soon as the time and whereabouts for their meeting had been set Ianto had run straight in to where Tosh was just about to start on the lunchtime dishes, desperate to quiz her on every little detail: what Jack was really like, what he should expect from this outing, the precise details (he knew the major one of course) about their interactions at the party… anything. For the most part Toshiko hadn't been brilliantly helpful, though that wasn't her fault. She had said that Jack was hard to read, you could never tell if he was flirting – or even when he was more than flirting – out of attraction or simply out of kindness. That he was probably exactly how he had deemed him from his first impression: larger than life and full of charm, and that she hadn't been close enough to hear the pair's conversation but that they seemed to have been enjoying each other's company.

Tosh's ambiguity had meant that Ianto Jones was, for once, feeling very much out of his depth – he was beyond nervous about precisely what he was getting into. His last half an hour had been spent matching various garments together to find the perfect out for their meeting (he'd settled on dark slim leg jeans, a fair isle jersey and his favourite caterpillar boots), shaving for the second time today and generally grooming his immaculate appearance obsessively; and he had no idea why.

Siting in the café now, going over this afternoon's events in his mind, he had even less of an idea why he had put so much effort in; the bloody man wasn't even going to turn up!

Ianto himself had arrived at five minutes to four, early as always despite Tosh's information, at the peculiar little café that also served as an antique books shop that he had selected for their afternoon coffee. It was a quaint, nameless and odd little place tucked away on the edge of the town centre that had been there for what seemed like forever. The business seemed to attract very little custom other than Ianto himself who frequently popped in for a coffee and a chat with the owners Bethan (Beth) and Steffan, or to browse through their varied collection of antiquities. He'd often wondered how many people ventured in to the curious establishment during the day, let alone up until the gone midnight closing time; but Beth and Steffan had never shown any signs of closure – not even during this time of recession. Ever since he had been a teenager in need of a place of refuge away from the noise of his busy household this is where he had head and it had remained very dear to his heart ever since. It was peaceful and unique and provided the second best (only to his own) coffee in Cardiff.

He'd been a little worried about the choice, but Jack had asked him to choose where ever he would like to go and this was the only place within at least a thirty mile radius that he would even think about purchasing a coffee from… but he supposed it did seem a bit of an odd choice for a meeting such as this. Not that Ianto had been on such a meeting before of course. He glanced at his watch again: 4.25 pm, well if he ever deigns to turn up then I can at least justify my choice once he sample's a cup of Steffan's coffee he mused, or by the fact that you get to choose your own coffee mug to drink from, he mused as he began fiddling with the red and white striped mug in front of him; his favourite.

Just as Ianto was contemplating how much longer he could justify sitting her before totally residing to the fact that he had been 'stood up' and settling for heading off home feeling sorry for himself, Jack Harkness entered the small café with an impressive flourish. His brunette hair was ruffled ever so slightly, breaking away from his usual, rigidly gelled style, there was a hint of sweat across his brow that appeared to glisten in the afternoon sun, he was breathing heavily through a wide beaming grin, and his cheeks were slightly red with the glow of exercise; he had been running.

"I know, I know, I'm late but I've got a really good excuse – you're gonna love it!" He said, slightly breathless, and if it was possible his grin grew even wider as he spoke.

"Hmm I bet you do" The Welshman replied, irking one eyebrow upwards and ushering with his hands for Jack to sit down opposite him.

Truth be told did have a good excuse, a very good excuse in fact, as to why he was late for their meeting; much better than his usual 'the girls at work just couldn't keep their hands off me!' or 'I had to go and catch an alien' or any number of fanciful excuses. He himself had been surprisingly nervous about meeting Ianto for a coffee, and a proper chat without the presence of alcohol, that afternoon and had set himself up to be bang on time if not a little early at the quirky little café come bookshop that Ianto had wanted to meet at. Jack didn't do nervous, not usually; but something about this young Welshman had got beneath his skin, he wanted to get to know more about the mysterious, attractive character that for all he knew was completely and utterly straight.

And so, he dressed himself in a favourite navy polo shirt, mid wash boot cut jeans and converse, then perfected his hair and brushed his teeth all in a hurry so as not to be late for their outing, only for his phone to ring as he was putting the keys into the door of his car. Groaning to himself he checked his watch quickly – 3.50, he had precisely two minutes to carry out this conversation before he needed to leave if he wanted to be on time – then reluctantly answered his phone. It was an old friend and colleague of his Alex Hopkins the manager of Spotlight; the modelling agency he had previously worked with and now did much of the photography for, wanting to talk to him about a job with Burberry. Jack's draw dropped open: Burberry. He had dreamed of working with Burberry for years, and though he'd always hoped an opportunity would have arisen when he was still working as a model, he was excited even by the prospect of photographing a shoot or and advert or whatever they wanted. In his sheer excitement half of Alex's words were missed, with him only tuning into the conversation again at

"…and they'd been looking over some of your previous work and decided that they just had to have you! So will you do it?"

"Of course! Of course I will! This is fantastic! What do they want me for? How much work is it exactly? Which models will I be photographing?" He said in a frantic rush of excitement.

"Which models? Jack, were you not listening? They want you!"

"What?"

Alex sighed down the phone, "They want you to be the new face of the brand –"

"So they want me to model, not to photograph?" Jack interrupted, slightly confused but pleased beyond belief.

"Precisely… so, will you do it?"

"Absolutely!" Jack grinned.

"Great! I'll give you Christopher's number so that you can find out a bit more about the job"

Jack took down the number, eagerly scribbling on his hand and preceded to call up Christopher Lowe, artistic director for the brand, directly after his conversation with Alex had finished and spent a good twenty minutes discussing the exact details of his new contract; they wanted him to be in every advertisement that they published for the new season and potentially for further seasons after this summer. The American kept glancing towards his wristwatch throughout the entire telephone call, knowing that he was making himself later and later for seeing Ianto, but not quite finding the strength to care as much as he should have done as he was so thrilled with this new opportunity; he would just have to hope that Ianto would see it as a valid excuse and forgive him twenty five minutes.

"…And so as soon as we ended the call I jumped straight in my car and drove here – but could I find a decent parking space nearby – no? So I ended up having to leave it parked on some random street about ten minutes away, which is why I ran over here in such a rush because I knew I was late already and…" He trailed off, catching his breath properly now, smiling away.

"Well that sure is one hell of an excuse" Ianto smiled, he couldn't help but do anything else in the presence of the man opposite him, so enthused and animated.

"So you aren't mad at me?" Jack wanted to clarify, smile fading for just a minute.

"Of course not! Tosh had warned me of your time keeping skills… But I must admit, I am pleasantly surprised that the multi-talented up and coming face of Burberry even decided to arrive at all, after all what would such a high flying individual want with a boring old librarian?" Ianto winked.

"Well from where I'm sat, the librarian isn't so boring… and he really doesn't want to know the things that I want from him" Jack winked back sending a wave of heat across Ianto's cheeks.

He coughed a little, "so, has your apartment recovered from the party?" Ianto asked.

"Just about, though I keep finding bananas in strange places… like in one of my shoes, in the microwave, behind the sofa…" He grinned. "I reckon Owen went on a mad drunken banana spree, trying to wind me up probably, but not understanding that I'm actually finding it quite amusing" The American broke out into a laugh.

Ianto found himself laughing too, for some reason he just couldn't help but reciprocate the gesture of the handsome man before him. Handsome? Ianto questioned himself silently, did I really just think handsome? He shook the thought away to reply:

"Well from what Tosh had told me, that definitely sounds like Owen"

"Ah yes of course, those two are pretty cosy aren't they?" He smiled and Ianto smiled back "And how is the lovely Toshiko of course? Bearing up ok? I know she usually takes the morning after pretty hard…"

"She's been better" The Welshman laughed "Headache and nausea as usual, but she perked up a bit after a coffee" He finished and by coincidence Beth had brought the two men's coffees over to their table at that precise moment, Ianto's in his red striped favourite, and Jack in a blue version. Both men nodded appreciatively and thanked the sweet woman.

"Bless her; she's always been like that hasn't she?"

"Indeed… so I was wondering, how exactly did you meet Tosh again? My memory from last night and all I can remember is you saying something about a stolen sword, a bottle of tequila and you running naked through the streets of Splott!"

"Ah, well that's all I did tell you… and that's all you're getting for now, at least until we know each other a bit better and you have already formed your own terrible opinion of me as people always do" He grinned.

"I think it would be quite hard to form a bad opinion of you" Ianto mused.

The man opposite irked an eyebrow up inquisitively.

"Did I say that out loud?" The Welshman asked his face well and truly flooded with embarrassment.

"Yup" He grinned. "And believe me, it is very easy to quickly gain a bad opinion of me, I have a very extensive reputation I'll have you know"

"I'm sure you do!"

The pair smiled at each other briefly before each taking generous mouthfuls of their coffees, and continuing to talk for the next half an hour or so about whatever random topics popped up into conversation, neither of them quite sure where to progress with anything beyond light hearted, trivial chit chat.

"So…" Jack began a good while later.

"So?" Ianto questioned, not wanting to make the first move.

"Why are we here today the Jones, Ianto Jones?"

Ianto fiddled nervously with the handle on his mug, completely unsure of what to say in response because in truth he had absolutely no idea why he was there. As far as he had been concerned he was a straight man, always had been always would be, but now there was Jack and… no he surely wasn't attracted to him, was he? I mean, yes he was good looking…very good looking… and funny and charming… but you were allowed to notice things like that without it meaning anything right? Just because he had noticed this, just because talking with Jack filled his stomach with a thousand gently fluttering butterflies and just because he had even let this man kiss him… didn't mean a thing, did it?

Jack, sensing that he wasn't going to get an answer from the man opposite him any time soon, continued: "I mean don't get me wrong, I'm having a wonderful time – hot Welshman, great coffee, someone to retell my Burberry story to… it's great. But what is this, is it a date? Is it just a meeting?..."

"I'm not sure" Ianto said in a small voice, smiling a little nervously.

"I don't want you to feel awkward or uncomfortable about what happened, I mean Tosh told me that she thought you were straight, but I thought maybe if I took a risk then… I hope I haven't scared you at all?" Jack said, praying that Ianto would disagree.

The American was used to attracting a fair amount of attention and stringing along a polygamous chain of one night stands and occasional lovers and that lifestyle had suited him for the most part. In the past few years as he had been getting a little older he'd carried on being as flirtatious as ever, but that was where it ended usually, he was looking for something more now… but he just didn't know where to find it. Obviously it was ridiculous for him to think that Ianto might be just the one to settle down with, they’d only met briefly and under somewhat less than sober conditions, however there was definitely something about Ianto Jones…

"No, no you didn't" Ianto replied, seeming a little uncertain but with that small smile still fixed in place. Jack took this as reassurance. "But I need to be honest about something, I don't like men… like that" Ianto finished, suddenly embarrassed once again.

Jack's reassurance was shattered and the young Welshman observed his noticeable change of expression and so hurriedly went back to trace over his own footsteps "Well, what I mean is… I don't think I do, but I think I, I mean there's you and there’s just something about… well you." Ianto mumbled. "I'm straight, but as soon as I remembered what happened last night I knew that I wanted to come and see you today, needed to come and see you, what does that mean?"

"It doesn't have to mean anything…" Jack suggested, still a little disheartened, but at least comforted a little by the fact that even if Ianto was 'straight' that he seemed to have some interest in him, even if it was merely friendly… besides, if I can get a few cocktails in him again… the thought flashed wickedly through the American's mind.

"How so?"

"Well, we could just forget about the whole thing if that's what you'd prefer" Jack said, biting his lip after he had, hoping that the next words uttered from the Welshman's perfect mouth wouldn't be 'yes please'.

"No, no I don't want that it's just… I don't know what I want. This all feels very strange, I mean I don't even know what it is I am feeling… if I'm feeling anything or… and we barely know each other and…"

"And?"

"Well, could we perhaps just try getting to know each other a bit better, you know being friends?" Ianto asked timidly, not convinced that this was the best course of action to take, but it was either this; runaway and never look back at that man; or reach out across the coffee table and kiss him until he couldn't think about any of this anymore. This seemed by far the least hasty action and the one least likely to cause a sense of regret, and after all, other than the few things he had learnt over this weekend, Jack was a complete stranger… albeit a rather handsome and easy to be with stranger… Focus Ianto…

"If you like" Jack smiled back. To him it was a bitter sweet result. He'd know it was unlikely that Mr Jones was interested in men but still he had been hoping that he had been wrong, or that he could have changed his mind… He supposed that he had been a little foolish to think so, but at least he hadn't received an outright no. And if they were to get to know each other better, who knew what might happen? And, even if nothing did, he'd still get to spend a large amount of time with the beautiful blue eyed Welshman, and hopefully he would always wear jeans that snug in his company.

"Right. To friendship then?" Ianto shrugged a little, raising his near finished mug of coffee in proposition of a toast.

Jack raised his own mug and met Ianto's, waiting until the Welshman had taken a sip before he spoke. "To bromance" Jack winked, causing Ianto to splutter a little on his drink… this was going to be fun Jack mused.


End file.
